Box Score ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Colorado Mesa men's basketball team out-scored Dixie State 43-36 in the second half but came up short falling 85-81 in its season opener Friday (Nov. 8).

The Mavericks scored the first five points of the game, but the Storm would go on an 8-0 run with five minutes remaining in the first half. Dixie led 49-38 at halftime and shot 59-percent (19-32) from the floor over the first 20 minutes. DSU also made five of their six 3-pointers in the first.

Dixies lead would grow to a game-high 14 points with 10:51 remaining. Mesa would cut the lead to just one with 79 seconds remaining after Clay Kame drained his sixth 3-pointer of the game. Kame finished with a game-high 20 points for the Mavericks.

Mason Sawyer drained all six free throws over the final 30 seconds to preserve the win for Dixie State.

"I was happy with the way the team competed tonight," said head coach Andy Shantz. "We had a few break downs defensively and got in foul trouble early. We battled back, but we just couldn't finish.

"I was really happy with our transition defense tonight. Dixie is one of the better running teams and we held them to two fast break points."

Shantz also touted the play of Carlos Perez who shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and finished with 16 points.

Ryan Stephan enjoyed a strong night in the post shooting 6-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 from the line to finish with 17 points.

The Mavericks shot 60-percent (17-28) in the second half after shooting 48-percent in the first.

Colorado Mesa (0-1) will face California Baptist Saturday (Nov. 9) at 5 pm.